“Not right now.” The muscles in her arm flexed, trying to pull away. “Please.”
He had no choice but to let her go. And as he did it felt like all the ground he’d gained was crumbling under his feet. “This isn’t the end,” he said quietly. “I’m not giving up.”
She shook her head. “Why? Because we had good sex?”
“It’s not just about that and you know it. I want you, Jude. And if you think I’m going to let some bastard reporter get in the way you’ve got another thing coming.”
An expression he didn’t understand crossed her face. “But it’s not just about the reporter, either. It’s about me trusting you again. And right now, I’m not sure I can.” She paused. “I’m sorry.”
He watched her as she left, trying like hell not to let it get to him.
He’d been on a losing side before and still won. It was going to be no different now.
…
Joseph returned from the honeymoon a couple of days after the lunch with Judith and Caleb thought he’d better at least say hello and welcome home to the guy. Avoiding his friend for a while would have suited him down to the ground—at least until he’d figured out what he was going to do about Judith. But that wasn’t an option. No, he was just going to have to go and say hello and pretend he hadn’t done the dirty with Jude behind his back.
Which made it kind of a mess.
When Caleb did finally drop into Joseph’s office, Joe was looking more relaxed and happy than Caleb had ever seen him. For a start he wasn’t pacing up and down or running on his treadmill. He was lounging at his desk and seemed quite comfortable there. In one hand he held what looked suspiciously like a rosary, rolling the beads of it around in his fingers.
Pushing aside all thoughts of Judith, Caleb grinned at his friend as he parked himself on the edge of Joe’s desk. “Bloody hell, she converted you.”
The other man laughed. “They’re worry beads. Plus there’s a little bit of Gothic street cred going on there.”
Caleb arched an eyebrow “She told you that, right?”
“Yup.” Joseph didn’t even have the grace to look embarrassed. “Hey, she listens to gothic metal. She should know.”
“You’re so down with the kids. Next you’ll be growing your hair over one eye and wearing eye liner.”
Joseph shrugged. “I have no problem with that if it keeps my woman happy.”
“Mate, that’s sickening.”
His friend only grinned. “You should try it sometime.”
“What? Marriage?”
“Yeah. Why not?”
“Christ no. What would all my groupies say?”
Joseph laughed.
Then the door to his office opened and Judith came in. And a whole ocean of awkward flooded through the room like a tsunami.
What the hell was she doing here? She wasn’t due to be shooting Joseph’s picture until the week after.
She’d stopped dead in the doorway, camera bag slung over one shoulder, eyes wide as they met his. She wore a pair of black tights, tough-looking boots, and some kind of wrap-around silver dress type of arrangement. Probably that fashion thing again. Whatever it was, she looked cool, sophisticated, and totally self-possessed. Just as she normally did.
Except when he looked at her, all he could see was how she’d looked on the chaise lounge in her studio. Flushed and panting beneath him. Her thighs wrapped around his hips. Her back arching as she’d climaxed in his arms.
His whole body threw itself into the memory of making love to Judith Ashton with wild abandon, leaving him breathless and hard and bitterly conscious that he did not want to be either right now. Not with his best friend sitting mere inches away from him.
Joseph, oblivious to the sudden tension that rocketed through the room, got up from his desk.
“Hey, Jude. Sorry about the short notice. I forgot about the PR meeting I’ve got next week. You don’t mind, do you?”
Her gaze flicked to Caleb and then away again. A dull flush stained her cheeks. “Oh, no, it’s fine. I…I didn’t realize you had company.”
Joseph waved a hand. “Him? Cal isn’t company. He can give me someone to talk to while you do your photo thing.”
Shit. So Joseph had changed the time. Just Caleb’s luck he’d have to be here at the same exact moment. For a second he debated the merits of pretending he had an important meeting, which had to be better than sitting around awkwardly while he and Judith acted like nothing was wrong for Joseph’s benefit.
But then Joe said, “Do you mind sticking around, Cal? I need a distraction.”
The excuse he’d been preparing died stillborn. Yeah, he knew. Man, he couldn’t skive off. What kind of bloody coward did that make him?